Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Confused?

As we talked about the attacks in France and Nigeria and why France received an abundance of coverage while we heard virtually nothing about Nigeria, I felt the answer could be simple. Using the six points of interest discussed in our Writing for Media Class, our answer can be found. Review the points of interest in a story:

1. Impact - how many people affected  
2. Conflict
3. Novelty
4. Prominence
5. Proximity 
6. Timeliness

The story in France had more novelty, prominence, proximity (as a bird flies from Paris to SGU is about 5335 miles while 7393 miles from SGU to Lagos) and timeliness. This left the Nigerian story having more impact, and conflict. From a pure mathematical stand point the attack in France would win out in an oversaturated news media world; yet this formulation does not do either tragic event justice. I began to think about what other reasons our media would care more about France than Nigeria. 

Overall, Americans seem to typify more toward the French - after all they gave us the Statue of Liberty. I am also guessing that more people from the US have visited France rather than the poverty stricken Nigeria, possibly causing many Americans to feel more connected. Because I have a friend who has lived in Nigeria I understand feeling connected and influenced by a culture - always seeking information and knowledge about a place to stay connected. When my friend was in Nigeria I kept up on Nigerian news regularly and could tell you many happenings in the country. When my friend returned home, I quit following the Nigerian news. The first I heard about this bombing was in class and the blog. In my case, connection played a huge roll.

It is also quite possible that the aide of available technology was a key factor. France has more people carrying smartphones than they do in Nigeria; which certainly helped spread the news more quickly around the world.  

These reasons alone could satisfy my thoughts about the topic. But what I heard in the radio broadcast shocked. The Nigerian bombings were not even news in Nigeria?!
I don’t understand this at all. Americans tend to be more self-focused these days. In the United States the word of the year over the past two years were “selfie” (2013) and “vape” (2014). Both words come from people trying to gain pleasure, attempting to focus as much recognition on “self” and “pleasure” as possible. When we factor in our “words of the year,” it’s no wonder the US only pays attention to a select, few news stories. Our mentality is if it’s not about me, it’s not important. 

How can something so horrific not even be news in your own country? The only reason I can could think of is that the attacks lacked novelty. Has Nigeria become a culture that is numb to the awful truths of terrorism? No. There are some things in life that people just cannot grow numb to. The broadcast left me confused. Has “western” news gone so far as to dominate every story even in non-western countries?





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